Dan R. Olsen

Advantages: well-crafted
Disadvantages: compared favorably with 'Lord of the Rings

...Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy ('The Golden Compass' / Northern Lights', 'The Subtle Knife' and 'The Amber Spyglass') is a series of best-selling stories for teenagers / young adults. In 2001, 'The Amber Spyglass' - the last book in the series, was the first-ever children's book to win the Whitbread Prize. By mid-2002, more than a million copies had been sold in the UK alone. Film rights to the series have been bought by New Line Cinema, who brought us 'Lord of the Rings'. In January 2003, the BBC broadcast the series on Radio 4, over three Sunday afternoons, starring Lulu Poppleswell as Lyra, Dan Anthony as Will, Emma Fielding as Mrs Coulter and Terence Stamp as Lord Asriel. These stories are well-crafted, and keep you turning the pages to find out what happens. They have an epic sweep that inevitably brings 'Lord... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average not helpful

Advantages: Its even better than the da vinci code
Disadvantages: can be hard to follow

...I loved angels and demons, i unfortunatly read it after the da vinci code (wrong way round) but i still thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact i think it is dan browns best achievement so far, He developes the characters in such a realistic and accomplished way and creates an such a vivid atmosphere in every single part of the book, you dont need to use your imagination because dan brown automatically prjects the image into you head. The plot is very intelliegent and this is definately a page turner, i could read this over and over again. This is fast paced and as usual with dan brown he opens up new theories and ideas that you continue to think about even after reading the book.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: It was an interesting read
Disadvantages: it is a bit of a disappiontment after reading dan browns other books

...I Have read all of dan browns books and i think this is the worst, but that is compared to his other book. It was still a good read and a bit of a page turner, definately better than alot of writers out their, dan provides plenty of plot twists and interesting characters, although the characters are not very easy to understand or relate to, you never really feel like you get to know them or care if they live or die.. In this book dan has an interesting way of linking the two parts of the story together. However i felt the ending could have been better, it was a bit of an anti climax, with nothing overly exciting happening, Not something i would read twice but its worth a read as light entertainment... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful